Method for ink jet printing a digital image on a textile, the system and apparatus for practicing the method, and products produced by the system and apparatus using the method

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method of printing a digital image on a textile including the steps of selecting 8 to 16 inks to form an ink set, calibrating the ink set to create an ink set profile, using the ink set profile to calculate hue and shade-based look-up tables directly correlating the inks with the color space coordinates of the pixels of the digital image. The present invention also is a system and an apparatus providing means for performing the calibration of the ink set and direct correlation of the color space coordinates. The printed fabric has a first plurality of dots having 8 to 16 differently colored inks per dot and a second plurality of dots having one color per dot. Significantly, the present invention produces printed textiles having a high detail, deep color, and broad shading, as well as a combination of dyes heretofore considered incompatible.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention generally relates to methods of ink printing and,more particularly, to multicolor ink printing on textiles. Thisinvention also relates to systems and apparatus for multicolor ink jetprinting on textiles, as well as multicolor ink printed textiles, perse.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] As defined herein, the term “color space” is a mathematicaldefinition for colors. Well known color spaces include CIE lab, CIE xyz,CIE luv, CIE xyY, CIE uvY, Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black (CMYK), andRed-Green-Blue (RGB). For example, the RGB triplet divides each colorinto an amount of red, green, and blue, such as (50,40,220) for a bluedominant color.

[0005] The simple act of printing a color image on textiles iswell-known. In fact, the history of dying cloth may go back as far as2600 B.C.

[0006] Nonetheless, numerous technical difficulties remain in attemptingto accurately print an image or design on a textile. For example,refraction and internal reflection caused by the chosen textile resultsin color interference, which is perceived as a muddy or blurry image.Moreover, each textile fabric has a different set of refraction andinternal reflection characteristics, and different weights and weaves ofthe same fabric will have different sets of refraction and internalreflection characteristics. The high level of variation of refractionand internal reflection often necessitates custom preparation of colorseparations for each type of fabric in order to avoid colorinterference. Yet, custom preparation of color separations takes a greatdeal of time and effort on the part of the textile colorist. Of course,the technical difficulties of printing multicolor images on textilesincreases as the image or design becomes more complex.

[0007] Overall changes in the printing and imaging industries compoundthe traditional problems, especially as digital technology becomes thenorm rather than the exception. For example, digital images areroutinely coded in RGB for display on a computer monitor. However,printers typically use CMYK and textile colorists traditionally use CIElab. Thus, an image initially in RGB will be routinely converted into adifferent color space before being printed. However, data can easily belost or corrupted in the conversion to a different color space. Softwarecorrection may be applied in an attempt to recover lost or corrupteddata, but such software correction may actually increase the errors.

[0008] Many prior art methods for non-textile printing attempt toovercome the disadvantages inherent in multiple color spacetransformations, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,217 to Eschbach et al. andU.S. Pat. No. 5,953,499 to Narendranath et al. These patents rely onartificial blending or filtering color space data to “enhance” or“improve” the subsequently rendered image. Yet, clearly, such forcedtechniques are not ideal.

[0009] Printed images on textiles can be blurry because the colors bleedinto or blend with one another. Color correction is often accomplishedusing gray replacement with undercolor addition or using undercolorremoval. However, as stated above, it is preferable to achieveappropriate color separation without resorting to color correction.Bleeding and blurriness may also be reduced by manipulating the size ofthe individual ink dots deposited on the textile. U.S. Pat. No.6,051,036 to Kusaki et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,619 to Miura et al.disclose recent attempts to increase printing accuracy by adjusting thesize of the ink dots deposited on the textile. Yet, while overallsharpness may be enhanced, subtle blending and shading risk beingattenuated, which would detrimentally affect the fidelity of the printedimage or design.

[0010] Improvements in hardware and software make it possible to usemore than three dyes to make a color. Current systems and method usuallydo not utilize current technology to its full potential. Currently, grayscales are usually made with a dithered black, a dithered gray, or acombination of both dithered black and gray. Yet, dithered blacks andgrays generally do not reproduce deep and true blacks and grays. It hasbeen found that, using multiple overlapping sets of complementarycolors, a composite shading scale can be built that provides a robustshading scale without visible dithering patterns and also allows forsubtle casts to color renderings.

[0011] The aforementioned Kusaki et al. and the Miura et al. patentsdisclose ink jet printing using a maximum of eight colors. The ink jetprinting art is generally directed to printing with sets of 4 to 8differently colored inks. This direction of the art is further discussedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,743 to Elwakil.

[0012] It is also a long accepted practice, as underscored in the Kusakiet al. patent that different types of dyes (e.g., acid andfiber-reactive) may not be intermixed for printing on fabrics other thansilk. In other words, fiber-reactive dyes are used on cotton, silk, andwool, while acid dyes are used on nylon and silk.

[0013] There is a need in the art for a system that provides both abroad range of shading and vivid, bright, and true colors, whereincomplex digital images can be faithfully printed on a range of fabrics.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] In light of the foregoing, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a method for printing an image on a textiledirectly from a digital image with specific user-defined inks.

[0015] It is also an object of the present invention to provide such amethod for printing an image on a textile, wherein the user selects 8 to16 inks to create a user-defined high-multiplicity ink set. Theuser-defined ink-set is linearized with user-defined calibration curves.

[0016] It is a further object of the present invention to provide such amethod for printing an image on a textile, wherein the pixels of thedigital image are directly correlated with the ink set using hue andshade values, without transformation into conventional color spaces,such as CIE lab, CIE xyz, CIE luv, CIE xyY, CIE uvY, or CMYK.

[0017] In addition, it is an object of the present invention to providea system for selecting inks for printing on a textile, in which auser-defined ink set profile is used to correlate an amount of inks withhue and shade values derived directly from the pixels of a digital imagedefined in the RGB color space.

[0018] Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide anapparatus for textile printing having a plurality of inks calibrated asa user-defined ink profile that prints an amount of selected inks on afabric based on hue and shade values from the pixels of a digital image.

[0019] Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to providea printed textile having a high dpi (dots per inch) count, and a broadrange of color density and shading.

[0020] It is a further object of the present invention to provide aprinted textile with different types of dyes (e.g., acid andfiber-reactive), and yet achieve faithful reproduction of complexpictorials and images.

[0021] These and other objects of the present invention are preferablyachieved by a method of reproducing a digital image on a textileincluding the steps of the user selecting 8 to 16 inks to form an inkset, calibrating the ink set to create an ink set profile, using the inkset profile to calculate hue-based and/or shade-based look-up tables(LUTs) that directly correlate the inks with the color space coordinates(e.g., RGB values) of the pixels of the digital image. By directlycorrelating the inks and the color space coordinates using hue andshade, the present method faithfully reproduces the digital image on thetextile. The method may be practiced using a system and/or apparatusthat provides means for performing the calibration of the ink set anddirect correlation of the color space coordinates. The printed fabrichas a first plurality of dots having 8 to 16 differently colored inksper dot and a second plurality of dots having one color per dot. The 8to 16 differently colored inks are user-defined and avoid certainconventional art directed ink jet ink-set colors, particularly includinggray. Significantly, the method, system, and apparatus produce a printedtextile having a high level of detail, depth of color, and broad rangeof shading. The printed textile also has a combination of dye types thatheretofore were considered incompatible. One preferred embodiment has 12inks, which includes or provides 7 true colors, 4 pseudo-colors (i.e., amix of two or more true colors), and black, and wherein 8 colors arefiber-reactive inks and 4 colors are acid inks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022]FIG. 1 is a graph of hue and saturation curves for 7 differentlycolored inks of a 12-ink ink-set according to the present invention,wherein S is scarlet, GY is golden yellow, Y is yellow, T is turquoise,B is blue, V is violet, and R is red;

[0023]FIG. 2 is a graph of hue and saturation curves for pseudo-colorsof the ink-set of FIG. 2, wherein B is blue and LB is light blue;

[0024]FIG. 3 is a graph of hue and saturation curves for pseudo-colorsof the ink-set of FIG. 2, wherein T is turquoise and MT is mediumturquoise;

[0025]FIG. 4 is a graph of hue and saturation curves for pseudo-colorsof the ink-set of FIG. 2, wherein R is red, and MR is medium red, and LMis light magenta;

[0026]FIG. 5 is a graph of gray curves for 9 differently colored inks ofthe ink-set of FIG. 2, wherein K is black, MT is medium turquoise, GY isgolden yellow, MR is medium red, LM is light magenta, S is scarlet, LBis light blue, Y is yellow, and B is blue; and

[0027]FIG. 6 is a profile of absorption curves for the 12 differentlycolored inks in the 12-ink ink-set of FIG. 2, wherein K is black, LM islight magenta, B is blue, T is turquoise, MT is medium turquoise, LB islight blue, R is red, MR is medium red, S is scarlet, V is violet, GY isgolden yellow, and Y is yellow.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] The present invention provides a method for color printing on atextile. The method of the present invention includes the steps of: (1)providing a digital image having a plurality of pixels in the RGB colorspace; (2) selecting a plurality of inks correlated to the digital imageto create a user-defined ink set; (3) creating an ink set profile fromuser-defined calibration (e.g., absorption) curves for the user-definedink-set; (4) defining a chromatic value and a shade value for each ofthe plurality of pixels; (5) determining an amount of inks correspondingto the chromatic and shade values as a function of the ink set profile;and (6) printing the selected amount of inks as a pixel-correspondingink jet dot portion on the textile. There is no transformation into orthrough CIE lab, CIE xyz, CIE luv, CIE xyY, CIE uvY, or CMYK.

[0029] The present invention is also a system for selecting an amount ofinks to print on a textile. The system includes: (1) a multi-colordigital image having a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels eachhaving a respective set of color space coordinates; (2) a plurality ofinks correlated to the multi-color digital image forming a user-definedink set; (3) an ink set profile based on user-defined calibration (e.g.,absorption) curves for the plurality of inks on a user-selected textile;(4) means for determining a chromatic value and a shade value for aselected pixel from its respective set of color space coordinates; (5)means for selecting an amount of inks from the ink set based on thechromatic value; and (6) means for selecting an amount of inks from theink set based on the shade value.

[0030] In addition, the present invention provides an apparatus forprinting on a textile. The apparatus includes: (1) a plurality ofuser-selected inks forming a user-defined ink set; (2) an ink setprofile based on user-defined calibration (e.g., absorption) curves forthe plurality of inks on a user-selected textile; (3) means fordetermining a chromatic value and a shade value for a pixel having a setof color space coordinates by correlating the color space coordinates tothe ink set profile; (4) means for selecting a first amount of inks fromthe ink set based on the chromatic value; (5) means for selecting asecond amount of inks from the ink set based on the shade value; and (6)means for printing the first and second amounts of inks on a textile.

[0031] A preliminary step in the method, apparatus, and system of thepresent invention is selecting a digital image for printing. The method,apparatus, and system of the present invention is intended to reproduceelaborate digital images with both true, vivid colors and a broad rangeof complex shading. However, the method, apparatus, and system canreproduce any digital image. Preferably, the method, apparatus, andsystem of the present invention uses 8-bit or 24-bit digital imagesdefined in the RGB colorspace. It is noted that no color intensity isdetermined for 8-bit (indexed color or 256 color) images.

[0032] The method, apparatus, and system of the present invention may beused to print digital images on any type of fabric. Woven, knitted,and/or non-woven fabrics may be used. The fibers in the fabrics may benatural and/or synthetic. Moreover, the method, apparatus, and system ofthe present invention are not limited by the thread count of a selectedfabric. However, better results are commensurably obtained with higherthread counts. Preferred fabrics have a thread count of at least about30 to about 300 or more. While not being limited to a specifichypothesis, it is believed that fabrics with higher thread counts willabsorb significant amounts of dye such as where 8 to 16 individual dropsare deposited corresponding to one pixel.

[0033] After selecting the digital image for printing and the fabricupon which the image will be reproduced, an ink-set is selected by theuser. The method, apparatus, and system of the present inventioncontains 8 to 16 differently colored inks. Sixteen is believed to beboth the optimal number and the practical maximum number of differentlycolored inks for use in an ink-set according to the present invention.

[0034] In one preferred aspect, the user-selected ink-set is selectedbased on the colors in the user-selected digital image to be printed.For example, if the selected digital image contains an abundance of acertain color, that color can be selected as an ink in the ink-set. Asanother example, if the selected digital image contains a certain colorthat is known to be difficult to accurately print, that color can beselected as an ink in the ink-set.

[0035] In another preferred aspect, the ink-set is selected from one ormore predetermined or pre-optimized ink-sets that were found to provideexceptional results for numerous divergently complex digital images. Inparticular, it has been surprisingly discovered that many divergenttypes of complex digital images can be accurately and faithfully printedusing a preferred pre-optimized 12-ink ink-set containing: black, lightmagenta, blue, turquoise, medium turquoise, blue, red, medium red,scarlet, violet, golden yellow, and yellow. Significantly, thecombination of scarlet, medium red, red, and violet produces anexceptionally wide range of colors that have heretofore been difficultto accurately and faithfully print on fabric. Furthermore, the foregoingoptimized ink-set does not contain green, orange, or gray. It wassurprisingly discovered that a full gray table can be produced usingblack and the eleven chromatic inks listed in the foregoing ink-set. Itwas also surprisingly found that 8 to 16 individual drops can be used toaccurately and faithfully print an integrated dot portion correspondingto a single pixel of a complex image.

[0036] It was also surprisingly discovered that the method, apparatus,and system of the present invention can concurrently employ combinationsof different types of dyes, such as acid, basic, fiber-reactive, anddirect dyes, regardless of the selected textile. While current practiceadvises that silk is the only fabric that can be dyed with both reactiveand acid dyes, the present invention concurrently uses bothfiber-reactive and acid dyes on other types of fabrics with improvedprinted image fidelity.

[0037] The following table summarize a preferred 12-ink ink-set for usein the present invention. The acid dyes used in this preferred ink-setare manufactured by DTP-Link (DTP), 27-4 Dangjeong-dong, Gunpo-si,Geonggi-do, Korea and are currently sold under the color-names andvendor numbers listed in the following table. The fiber-reactive dyes inthis preferred ink-set are manufactured by MacDermid Colorspan, Inc.(MCS), 6900 Shady Oak Road, Eden Prairie, Minn. and are currently soldunder the color-names and vendor numbers listed in the following table.TABLE 1 A Preferred Ink-set Color Type Vendor Number Black 501 Acid DTP0900758-001 Light Magenta 568 Acid DTP 0900758-009 Blue 310 FiberReactive MCS 0900642-003 Turquoise 320 Fiber Reactive MCS 0900642-004Medium Turquoise 325 Fiber Reactive MCS 0900642-005 Blue 526 Acid DTP0900758-005 Red 340 Fiber Reactive MCS 0900642-007 Medium Red 345 FiberReactive MCS 0900642-008 Scarlet 370 Fiber Reactive MCS 0900642-009Violet 513 Acid DTP 0900758-003 Golden Yellow 390 Fiber Reactive MCS0900642-0011 Yellow 395 Fiber Reactive MCS 0900642-0012

[0038] TABLE 2 Approximate RGB Values for Preferred Ink-Set of Table 1Color R G B Black 501 50 50 50 Light Magenta 568 250 216 255 Blue 310 00 150 Turquoise 320 0 100 100 Medium Turquoise 325 50 150 150 Blue 526134 162 199 Red 340 150 0 100 Medium Red 345 180 80 140 Scarlet 370 1500 0 Violet 513 150 40 180 Golden Yellow 390 180 90 0 Yellow 395 140 1400

[0039] One preferred 16-ink ink-set includes the 12 differently coloredinks discussed above with the addition of Cibacron® Yellow P-6GS,Cibacron® Red P-B, Cibacron® Red P-6B (more blue component compared toCibacron® Red P-B), and Cibacron® Navy P-2R-01. These additional fourinks are fiber reactive inks currently sold under the aforementionedtrademarks by Ciba Specialty Chemical Corp., 4050 Premier Drive, HighPoint, N.C. Another preferred 16-ink ink-set includes the 12 differentlycolored inks discussed above and 4 additional acid dyes: Morjet® Flavine8G, Morjet® Navy, and Morjet® Red 2B, which are currently sold by MorlotColor and Chemical Co., 111 Ethel Avenue, Hawthorne, N.J., as well asAcid Light Blue 532 (0900758006) currently sold by DTP.

[0040] The ink-set calibrations (e.g., grayscale, hue, and saturation)described hereinafter are preferably automated and/or computer assisted.Nonetheless, the calibrations are usually selected, modified, orcorrected before the final printing, since the human eye must be theultimate arbiter of the quality and fidelity of the printed fabric imagecompared to the user-selected digital image.

[0041] User-selected calibration curves for use in the present inventioninclude gamma, linear, bias, gain, ease, Kubelka-Monk, and combinationsthereof. Significantly, ink profiles for use in the present inventionare preferably calibrated using an ease equation or a modified KubelkaMunk equation.

[0042] Ease equations are used in animation to make motion accelerationlook smooth. Surprisingly, it has been discovered by the presentinventors that ease equations may be used to smoothly blend neighboringcolors. An ease equation takes an initial curve and returns a smoothedcurve that is flat on the top and bottom. For the present invention, theinitial curve is the hue line and x is a value on the hue line. Thesmoothed curve is the calculated color density and y is a value on thecalculated color density curve. First, x_(o) is compared against amaximum value Z_(max.) and a minimum value Z_(min.). If x_(o) is equalto or greater than Z_(max.) then y equals Z_(max.), and if x_(o) isequal to or less than Z_(min.) then y equals Z_(min.). For portions ofthe initial curve in which x_(o) is greater than Z_(min.) and less thanZ_(max.), the initial curve is smoothed as a function of its slope.

[0043] The Kubelka Munk equation is commonly used for calibratingabsorption curves. However, the present invention directly uses RGBvalues rather than the traditional x,y,z values. The prior art does notutilize such modifications of the Kubelka-Munk equation. The presentinvention solves for R as well as k/s.

[0044] Furthermore, each calibrated curve has an “in-portion” going froma initial value y_(i) to a peak value y_(p), and an “out-portion” goingfrom peak value y_(p) to a final value y_(f), which may be equal to ordifferent from the initial value y_(i). Thus, each complete calibratedcurve is a combination of two partial curves. The partial curves mayhave the same or different functions. For example, a complete calibratedhue and saturation curve may have an in-portion that is a function of anease equation, and an out-portion that is a function of the modifiedKulbelka-Monk equation discussed above. Moreover, the partial curves mayhave the same or different parameters that define the actual shape ofthe partial curves. For example, a complete calibrated hue andsaturation curve may have an in-portion that has an overall parabolicshape, and an out-portion that has an overall logarithmic shape.

[0045] In light of the foregoing and once the ink-set is chosen, thegrayscale of each ink in the ink-set should be calibrated or linearizedfrom 0% ink saturation (the ground color) to full or 100% saturation.Calibration is often necessary because ink printed on fabric has atendency to proceed very quickly from a perceived 0% saturation to aperceived 100% saturation. In fact, when a grayscale band is printedwithout calibration, 90% or more of that grayscale band is usuallyperceived as being 100% saturated. However, for accurate printing, agrayscale band must proceed smoothly from a perceived 0% saturation to aperceived 100% saturation, where only about 1% of that grayscale band is100% saturated.

[0046] Calibration of the grayscales is preferably done by printing aband of each dye on a fabric (usually the user-selected fabric asdiscussed above) beginning at 0% ink saturation and ending at 100% inksaturation, optically scanning the resulting bands to measure theabsorption characteristics of each dye on the user-selected fabric, anddetermining calibrated (i.e., smooth) grayscales as a function of themeasured absorption characteristics. The equation used to determinecalibrated grayscales from measured absorption characteristics can begamma, linear, bias, Kubelka-Monk, or combinations thereof, as discussedabove.

[0047] Pursuant to the present invention, look-up tables (LUTs) arecreated for hue and saturation, grayscale, and optionally one or morepseudo-colors. The LUTs directly transform the RGB triplet of a pixelinto hue and shade values, without employing transformations through thetraditional CIE lab, CIE xyz, CIE luv, CIE xyY, CIE uvY, and CMYK colorspaces. It is believed that this direct transformation from the RGBcolor space to a hue-based color space minimizes possible errors and/ormiscalculation of the original RGB values. Thus, the present method,apparatus, and system achieves high fidelity of the printed fabriccompared to the original user-selected digital image.

[0048] The hue value of a given RGB triplet is preferably determinedusing linear interpolation between the two largest values of the RGBtriplet for the pixel. The saturation value is preferably determinedusing the maximum value of the RGB triplet. The gray component ispreferably determined by the minimum value of RGB triplet.

[0049] A first LUT takes the RGB triplet of a pixel and determines itshue value and its color value or saturation. An optional pseudo-colorLUT may be used to determine the hue value and saturation of the pixelbased on a pseudo-color blend of different strengths of the same dye(e.g., red and medium red, or turquoise and medium turquoise). A secondLUT takes the RGB triplet of the same pixel and determines the grayscale value thereof. An third LUT linearizes the results for the firstand second LUTs based on the light absorption characteristics of aspecific fabric.

[0050] Once the hue, saturation, and gray values of the pixel have beendetermined, these values are used to select the inks in the ink-set thatare used for the final printing. The chromatic component (hue andsaturation) is preferably constructed using hue-line neighboring inks(e.g., blue and turquoise). The gray component is preferably constructedusing hue-line complementary colored inks to make a smooth achromaticshading scale.

[0051] For speed and consistency, the steps of calibration, LUTcreation, and RGB to hue-based color space transformation are preferablyperformed by a computer program, as known by one skilled in the art. Thecomputer program allows a user to specify the ink-set and thecalibration or profiles of each ink in the specified ink-set. Theprogram employed in the Example is the L12 program, SupersampleCorporation, 119 West 23^(rd) Street, New York, N.Y., 10011. Theapparatus of the present invention preferably includes the L12 software,a printer driver, and a commercial ink-jet printer. The computer programcooperates with a raster image processor (RIP) or printer driver thatselects the inks from the ink-set for the final printing, as known byone skilled in the art. A preferred RIP for use in the present inventionis sold by Dr. Wirth Software, GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany, through itsUnited States subsidiary DP Innovations, Inc., Spartanburg, S.C., underthe trademark Proofmaster.

[0052] The printer driver controls an ink jet printer that prints theuser-selected inks onto the user-selected fabric. An ink jet printer foruse in the present invention will have 8 to 16 slots for receiving atleast 8 to 16 differently colored inks. Unlike the prior art, in which12 slots were provided, but used only up to 8 differently colored inks,the present invention provides that each of the 12 slots will have adifferently colored ink therein. Several types of ink jet printers areuseful for the present invention including: (1) thermal jet printers,which deliver an ink through an ink nozzle to a substrate by pressurecreated from boiling or “bubbling” the ink, (2) pulse jet printers,which deliver an ink through an ink nozzle to a substrate by vacuumpressure created from applying an electric current to a piezoelectricelement within the ink nozzle, and (3) electric charge control printers,which particulate an ink by vibrating an ink nozzle using an ultrasonicwave and direct the ink particle using a electric field. Ink jetprinters for use in the present invention include thermal ink jetprinters sold by MacDermid Colorspan Corporation, Eden Prairie, Minn.,under the trademarks Displaymaker Series XII and Displaymaker FabrijetXII.

[0053] After the fabric is dyed, numerous post-processing steps may befollowed. For example, since most inks printed on fabric need to befixed, the process of the present invention may include a fixation step.The fixation step may include any known method for fixing ink, such assteam fixing, heat fixing, cold fixing, and chemical fixing (e.g., acidor alkali). Steam fixing is preferred. In addition, unreacted dyes andpretreatment substances may be removed from the printed fabric bywashing the printed fabric in water or water with detergent.

[0054] The method, system, and apparatus of the present inventionproduce an ink jet printed fabric. The fabric preferably has 30 to 300threads per inch or more. The ink jet printed image on the fabricincludes a plurality of integrated ink jet drop portions deposited onthe fabric. Each integrated ink jet drop portion is combined from orformed of 1 to 16 individual ink jet drops selected from 8 to 16differently colored inks. In addition, the ink jet printed imageincludes a plurality of pixel-correlated integrated ink jet dropportions wherein each drop portion has 8 to 16 individual ink jet dropsselected from the 8 to 16 differently colored inks.

[0055] Printed fabric produced according to the present invention can beused to produce numerous printed fabric articles, such as sheets,pillows, quilts, wall hangings, neckties, scarves, shirts, and blouses.

EXAMPLE Barney's KALEIDOSCOPIC Women's Silk Scarf

[0056] The following LUTs were used with the pre-optimized ink-set(Table 1, above) for printing a complex image on silk, namely a women'ssilk scarf sold by Barney's New York clothing stores under the trademarkKALEIDOSCOPIC. There are seven color curves in the pure-color hue andsaturation LUT—scarlet, golden yellow, yellow, turquoise, blue, violet,and red. There are four color curves in the pseudo-color hue andsaturation LUT—; medium red, medium turquoise, light blue, and lightmagenta. There are nine color curves in the gray scale LUT—black, cyan,golden yellow, medium red, light magenta, scarlet, light blue, yellow,and blue. All twelve of the differently colored inks in the preferredpre-optimized ink-set are present in the absorption profiles LUT.

[0057] As used in the following LUTs, K is black, LM is light magenta, Bis blue, T is turquoise, MT is medium turquoise, LB is light blue, R isred, MR is medium red, S is scarlet, V is violet, GY is golden yellow,and Y is yellow. TABLE 3 Pure-Color Hue and Saturation Curves (FIG. 1)Curve # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Slot Color S GY Y T B V R Slot 9 11 12 4 3 10 7Channel 9 11 12 4 3 10 7 Hue In 220 2 25 48 131 172 181 Hue 258 11 36120 171 192 216 Middle Hue Out 272 43 121 169 202 213 252 Saturation 0 00 0 0 0 0 In Saturation 256 203 186 256 256 256 256 Peak Saturation 0 00 0 0 0 0 Out

[0058] TABLE 4 Blue/Light Blue Pseudo-Color Curves (FIG. 2) Curve# 1 2Slot Color LB B Slot 6 3 Hue In 0 77 Hue Middle 208 256 Hue Out 256 256Saturation In 0 0 Saturation Peak 240 256 Saturation Out 56 256

[0059] TABLE 5 Turquoise/Medium Turquoise Pseudo-Color Curves (FIG. 3)Curve# 1 2 Slot Color T MT Slot 4 5 Hue ln 42 0 Hue Middle 256 208 HueOut 256 256 Saturation In 0 0 Saturation Peak 242 245 Saturation Out 25696

[0060] TABLE 6 Red/Medium Red/Light Magenta Pseudo-Color Hue andSaturation Curves (FIG. 4) Curve# 1 2 3 Slot Color R MR LM Slot 7 8 2Hue In 50 21 0 Hue Middle 256 225 144 Hue Out 256 256 256 Saturation In0 0 0 Saturation Peak 256 219 144 Saturation Out 256 64 0

[0061] TABLE 7 Gray Scale Curves (FIG. 5) Curve # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 SlotK MT GY MR LM S LB Y B Color Slot # 1 5 11 8 2 9 6 12 3 Lumi- 128 0 0 80 56 5 0 82 nance In Lumi- 256 160 157 162 69 128 128 120 256 nanceMiddle Lumi- 256 256 244 250 210 256 256 256 256 nance Out Ink In 0 0 01 0 0 0 0 0 Ink 260 122 24 97 66 12 106 44 72 Peak Ink Out 260 0 0 0 0 00 0 0

[0062] TABLE 8 Absorption Profile Curves (FIG. 6) Curve # 1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 Slot Color K LM B T MT LB R MR S V GY Y Slot 1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 Absorption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 In Absorption 256 225256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 Middle Absorption 255 256 255255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 Out Ink In 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Ink Peak 183 139 214 211 189 205 228 242 242 178 172 68 Ink Out — 208 —— — — — — — — — —

[0063] The present invention having been described with reference to apreferred embodiment thereof, it will be obvious to those skilled in theart that various changes and modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for color printing on a textilecomprising the steps of: providing a digital image having a plurality ofpixels; selecting a plurality of inks correlated to the digital image tocreate a user-defined ink set; creating an ink set profile fromuser-defined calibrations for the user-defined ink-set; defining achromatic value and a shade value for each of the plurality of pixelswithout CIE lab, CIE xyz, CIE luv, CIE xyY, CIE uvY, or CMYK colorspacetransformation; determining an amount of inks corresponding to thechromatic and shade values as a function of the ink set profile; andprinting the selected amount of inks as a dot on the textile.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the plurality of inks is at least 12 inks. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the user-defined calibrations areestablished by: printing a grayscale of each ink in the ink set on apre-selected textile, measuring color densities for each grayscale togenerate measured color density data, and defining a calibratedgrayscale for each ink in the ink set based on the measured colordensity data.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of theuser-defined calibrations is a function of the Kubelka-Munk equation. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the user-definedcalibrations is linear.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least oneof the user-defined calibrations is a function of gamma.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein at least one of the user-defined calibrations is afunction of a ease equation.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thechromatic value of the pixel includes a hue value and a saturationvalue.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the pixel is a set ofcoordinates in a color space and the hue value is determined usinglinear interpolation of at least two coordinates of the set ofcoordinates.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the pixel is a set ofcoordinates in a color space and the saturation value is determinedusing the largest coordinate of the set of coordinates.
 11. The methodof claim 1, wherein the pixel is a set of coordinates in a color spaceand the shade value is determined by the smallest coordinate of the setof coordinates.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one look-uptable is calculated to correlate the ink set profile to the chromaticvalue of the pixel.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the look-uptable correlates a pixel hue value to an ink hue and a pixel saturationvalue to an ink saturation.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein thelook-up table correlates a pixel hue to a pseudo-color ink hue and apixel saturation to a pseudo-color ink saturation.
 15. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the look-up table correlates the shade value of thepixel to a shade value for the ink set.
 16. The method of claim 1,wherein a look-up table is calculated to correlate the ink set profileto the shade value of the pixel.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein theamount of inks corresponding to the chromatic value is selected fromneighboring inks in the ink set.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein theamount of inks corresponding the hue and saturation values are summedbefore printing.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the amount of inkscorresponding to the shade value is selected from complementary inks inthe ink set.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital image is a24-bit RGB image.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected amountof inks is printed on the textile using an ink-jet printer.
 22. A systemfor selecting an amount of inks to print on a textile: a multi-colordigital image having a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels eachhaving a respective set of color space coordinates; a plurality of inkscorrelated to the multi-color digital image forming a user-defined inkset; an ink set profile based on user-defined calibrations for theplurality of inks on a user-selected textile; means for determining achromatic value and a shade value for a selected pixel from itsrespective set of color space coordinates without CIE lab, CIE xyz, CIEluv, CIE xyY, CIE uvY, or CMYK colorspace transformation; means forselecting an amount of inks from the ink set based on the chromaticvalue; and means for selecting an amount of inks from the ink set basedon the shade value.
 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the digitalimage is a 24-bit RGB image.
 24. The system of claim 22, wherein theplurality of inks is at least 12 differently colored inks.
 25. Thesystem of claim 22, wherein the user-defined calibrations areestablished by: printing a grayscale of each ink in the ink set on apre-selected textile, measuring color densities for each grayscale togenerate measured color density data, and defining a calibratedgrayscale for each ink in the ink set based on the measured colordensity data.
 26. The system of claim 22, wherein at least one of theuser-defined calibrations is a function of the Kubelka-Munk equation.27. The system of claim 22, wherein at least one of the user-definedcalibrations is linear.
 28. The system of claim 22, wherein at least oneof the user-defined calibrations is a function of gamma.
 29. The systemof claim 22, wherein at least one of the user-defined calibrations is afunction of an ease equation.
 30. The system of claim 22, wherein thechromatic value of the selected pixel includes a hue value and asaturation value.
 31. The system of claim 30, wherein the hue value isdetermined using linear interpolation of at least two color spacecoordinates of the respective set of color space coordinates.
 32. Thesystem of claim 30, wherein the saturation value is determined using thelargest color space coordinate of the respective set of color spacecoordinates.
 33. The system of claim 22, wherein the shade value isdetermined by the smallest coordinate of the respective set of colorspace coordinates.
 34. The system of claim 22, wherein the means fordetermining the shade value includes at least one look-up table.
 35. Thesystem of claim 22, wherein the means for determining the chromaticvalue includes at least one look-up table.
 36. The system of claim 35,wherein the chromatic value of the selected pixel includes a hue valueand a saturation value, wherein the look-up table correlates the pixelhue value to an ink hue, and wherein the look-up table correlates apixel saturation value to an ink saturation.
 37. The system of claim 35,wherein the chromatic value of the selected pixel includes apseudo-color value, wherein the look-up table correlates a pixel hue toa pseudo-color ink hue, and wherein the look-up table correlates a pixelsaturation to a pseudo-color ink saturation.
 38. The system of claim 22,wherein the amount of inks corresponding to the chromatic value isselected from neighboring inks on the hue line.
 39. The system of claim22, wherein the chromatic value includes a hue value and a saturationvalue, and wherein the means for selecting an amount of inks from theink set sums the inks corresponding the hue value and saturation values.40. The system of claim 22, wherein the amount of inks corresponding tothe shade value is selected from complementary inks in the ink set. 41.An apparatus for printing on a textile comprising: a plurality ofuser-selected inks forming a user-defined ink set; an ink set profilebased on user-defined calibrations for the plurality of inks on auser-selected textile; means for determining a chromatic value and ashade value for a pixel having a set of color space coordinates bycorrelating the color space coordinates to the ink set profile withoutCIE lab, CIE xyz, CIE luv, CIE xyY, CIE uvY, or CMYK colorspacetransformation; means for selecting a first amount of inks from the inkset based on the chromatic value; means for selecting a second amount ofinks from the ink set based on the shade value; and means for printingthe first and second amounts of inks on a textile.
 42. The apparatus ofclaim 41, wherein the plurality of inks is at least 8 differentlycolored inks.
 43. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the plurality ofinks is at least 12 differently colored inks.
 44. The apparatus of claim41, wherein the user-defined calibrations are established by: printing agrayscale of each ink in the ink set on a pre-selected textile,measuring color densities for each grayscale to generate measured colordensity data, and defining a calibrated grayscale for each ink in theink set based on the measured color density data.
 45. The apparatus ofclaim 41, wherein at least one of the user-defined calibrations is afunction of the Kubelka-Munk equation.
 46. The apparatus of claim 41,wherein at least one of the user-defined calibrations is linear.
 47. Theapparatus of claim 41, wherein at least one of the user-definedcalibrations is a function of gamma.
 48. The apparatus of claim 41,wherein at least one of the user-defined calibrations is a function ofan ease equation.
 49. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the chromaticvalue of the pixel includes a hue value and a saturation value.
 50. Theapparatus of claim 49, wherein the pixel is a set of coordinates in acolor space and the hue value is determined using linear interpolationof at least two coordinates of the set of coordinates.
 51. The apparatusof claim 49, wherein the pixel is a set of coordinates in a color spaceand the saturation value is determined using the largest coordinate ofthe set of coordinates.
 52. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the pixelis a set of coordinates in a color space and the shade value isdetermined by the smallest coordinate of the set of coordinates.
 53. Theapparatus of claim 41, wherein the chromatic value of the pixel includesa hue value and a saturation value, wherein at least one look-up tableis calculated to correlate the ink set profile to the chromatic value ofthe pixel.
 54. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein the look-up tablecorrelates a pixel hue value to an ink hue and a pixel saturation valueto an ink saturation.
 55. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein the look-uptable correlates a pixel hue to a pseudo-color ink hue and a pixelsaturation to a pseudo-color ink saturation.
 56. The apparatus of claim41, wherein the look-up table correlates the shade value of the pixel toa shade value for the ink set.
 57. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein alook-up table is calculated to correlate the ink set profile to theshade value of the pixel.
 58. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein theamount of inks corresponding to the chromatic value is selected fromneighboring inks in the ink set.
 59. The apparatus of claim 41, whereinthe amount of inks corresponding the hue and saturation values aresummed before printing.
 60. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein theamount of inks corresponding to the shade value is selected fromcomplementary inks in the ink set.
 61. The apparatus of claim 41,wherein the digital image is a 24-bit RGB image.
 62. The apparatus ofclaim 41, wherein the selected amount of inks is printed on the textileusing an ink-jet printer.
 63. An ink set for printing a fabriccomprising: at least 12 different colored inks, wherein at least one inkis an acid ink and another ink is a fiber-reactive ink.
 64. An ink jetprinted fabric comprising: a fabric having at least about 30 to about300 threads per inch, the fabric comprising an ink jet printed image,the ink jet printed image comprising a plurality of ink jet dropportions, wherein each ink jet drop portion is formed of 1 to 16 ink jetdrops selected from 8 to 16 different colored inks, and wherein a firstplurality of the ink jet drop portions comprise 8 to 16 drops selectedfrom the 8 to 16 different colored inks.
 65. A printed fabric of claim64, wherein a second plurality of ink jet drop portions comprises 8 to16 ink drops, wherein each portion of consists of one ink other than thecolor of the other second portions.
 66. The printed fabric of claim 64,wherein the 8 to 16 different colored inks comprise: a scarlet ink, oneor more medium red inks, and a violet ink.
 67. The printed fabric ofclaim 64, wherein the 8 to 16 different colored inks does not include agreen ink and an orange ink.
 68. The printed fabric of claim 64, whereinthe 8 to 16 different colored inks comprises at least one acid dye andone fiber-reactive dye.
 69. The printed fabric of claim 68, the inksfurther comprising 2 or more acid dyes and 2 or more fiber-reactivedyes.
 70. The printed fabric of claim 64, wherein a plurality of theportions comprise ink jet dots comprising scarlet, one or more mediumreds, and a violet.
 71. The printed fabric of claim 70, wherein the inksdo not include gray, green, and orange.
 72. The printed fabric of claim70, wherein the inks comprise a light blue.
 73. A set of 8 to 16different colored inks for ink jet printing a fabric, the inkscomprising scarlet, one or more medium reds, violet, and light blue. 74.The ink set of claim 73, wherein the set does not include gray, green,and orange.
 75. The ink set of claim 73, wherein the inks comprise aciddyes and fiber reactive dyes.
 76. The ink set of claim 73, wherein theinks comprise: black, light magenta, blue, turquoise, medium turquoise,blue, red, medium red, scarlet, violet, golden yellow, and yellow. 77.The ink set of claim 76, wherein the inks further comprise at least 3red inks having different hues.